Karen Reynolds
Karen Reynolds is the mother of Sean and Daniel Diaz, the ex-wife of Esteban Diaz, and the daughter of Claire and Stephen Reynolds in Life is Strange 2. As of the second episode, "Rules", her whereabouts and the circumstances behind her absence are unknown. :To visit Karen's room, click here. Background Karen is the only daughter of Claire and Stephen Reynolds. She grew up in Beaver Creek with interests in art, poetry, and photography. She did not enjoy life in her small town as evidenced by one of her poems describing her as a plant, feeling stuck in one place and being unable to move her roots somewhere else beyond the small town where she lived. She found her parents controlling and desperately wanted to escape. In her bedroom she kept books about traveling the world and had a bus ticket from Oregon to New York hidden in her CD player. At some point of her life, Karen moved to Seattle, where she married Esteban Diaz and had two sons with him: Sean and Daniel Diaz. Their union was not a happy one. The full reasons for Karen's dissatisfaction remain a mystery. The only reason currently known is that Esteban and Karen's parents did not get along due to how different he was from their conservative Christian worldview and their unwillingness to look at things from his perspective, creating strife in the marriage as Karen was presumably caught in the middle of their conflict. When Sean was 8 years old and Daniel was 1 year old, Karen left Esteban and severed ties with her entire family, including her parents. As she is characterized as valuing freedom above all else from the few artifacts she has left behind, one can assume she left because she still felt her life was under the control of other people. In this sense, she may have abandoned her sons for purely selfish reasons to avoid the responsibility of motherhood. This is Sean's current view of his mother, and he holds her in contempt as he struggles with feelings of abandonment. Daniel, on the other hand, wants to forgive her for whatever she's done and try to start over. Karen is still alive and cares about her sons in some sense despite her past actions. She sent a letter to Claire in an attempt to help the boys with their problems following the incident in Seattle. Episode One - "Roads" Karen's existence is first made known when Sean examines her belongings in the household's basement, where he questions why Esteban still keeps them around with contempt in his voice. An old bicycle, which Sean indicates was used by her, can be found in the garage. If Sean chooses to question Daniel before fighting their neighbor Brett Foster, Brett antagonizes the brothers by making a comment about how their mother walked out on them, which aggravates Sean to the point where he lashes out. Later in the episode, when Brody Holloway asks about his remaining family during their stop at Otter Point, Sean only says that she's "out of the picture." Not much is known as to why she left, or when. If Sean chose to take a moment of calm on the bench in Mount Rainier National Park, Daniel will say, "I just wish the family was together," in reference to Esteban joining him and Sean on their journey, which indicates that he does not consciously see their mother as a part of their family. It is later revealed that Daniel was too young to remember her before she left. Episode Two - "Rules" It is revealed that Karen left Esteban eight years ago and also cut all ties with her parents. Karen's bedroom is kept locked by Claire, who is determined to bury her past. Sean and Daniel sneak into Karen's room in an attempt to learn more about her, and they find a hidden letter that Karen has sent recently stating that she wants her parents to help the boys following the incident in Seattle. She left Claire with a PO box to write back to her. Daniel keeps the letter and places it in his backpack. He asks to go find Karen, but Sean refuses. Relationships Family * Sean Diaz (son) - When Sean was approximately eight years old, Karen cut off contact with her family and left them behind, leaving him to develop bitterness and anger towards her for leaving Esteban to raise them on his own. Upon hearing of the events in Seattle, Karen sends a letter to her parents asking them to take care of him and Daniel should they come across them, telling them that they're "the only family they have left". * Daniel Diaz (son) - Around a year after giving birth to Daniel, Karen cut off contact with her family and left them behind. Upon hearing of the events in Seattle, Karen sends a letter to her parents asking them to take care of him and Sean should they come across them, telling them that they're "the only family they have left". * Claire Reynolds (mother) - Karen was disowned by her mother following the event that led to her estrangement from the family. Claire still expresses hurt, weariness, and anger towards the subject of Karen over eight years later, and can refer to her as having done something unforgivable towards the rest of the family. The one memento Claire keeps of Karen is her milk teeth inside her jewelry drawer. * Stephen Reynolds (father) - After she cut ties with her family, Stephen remains sympathetic towards Karen and keeps old mementos of her hidden from his wife, including a photo of her as a child wearing his firefighting gear. He tells Sean that, although he cannot approve of "what she's done", he understands her reasons for doing so. * Esteban Diaz (ex-partner, deceased) - Karen used to live with Esteban in Seattle, where they had two children together. According to Sean, Karen contacted Esteban a few times after her disappearance before cutting off contact completely. Upon hearing of the events in Seattle, Karen sends a letter to her parents telling them that she was "heartbroken" over the incident. Friends * Emma (pen pal, former) - Emma envied Karen for being an only child and having a big house all to herself, while she had to put up with annoying siblings. Theories *Karen's reasons for leaving the Diaz family has been debated by fans since the release of "Roads"; some speculate that Karen abandoned the family upon discovering her own supernatural powers, while others suggest that she left for purely selfish reasons, as indicated by Sean's attitude and comments about her throughout the first two episodes. *Karen has an amethyst in her bedroom, which is said to strengthen a user's clairvoyance due to its association with the Crown Chakra which rules higher states of consciousness. It is speculated that this may be a clue that Karen is a seer or prophet and could provide an explanation as to why she left. It is also a stone to help deal with emotional turmoil and grief. **The photos in her room of random things could have been used to practice her far sight ability. *Some fans speculate that Karen may have left her family to join a religious cult, which would explain Claire's resentment towards her as rooted in her strong religious beliefs. Several references to church recruitment can be found within previous episodes; in The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit, a pastor named Derek calls Chris Eriksen to spread the word about the Universal Uprising Church, and in "Roads", a recruitment poster for True Cornerstone Church can be found at Bear Station. Trivia * Karen's name is a portmanteau of Claire and Stephen. Her name could also be an ironic reference to the Karen meme, with a 'Karen' being an entitled ex-wife who always takes the kids. * Karen's bear Ulysses is named after the Greek hero and protagonist of , a story about his long and fantastic journey to return home from the Trojan War. This is further evidence of Karen's lifelong interest in travel and adventure. * Karen's book " " that Daniel reads in her bedroom is a real novel by and is a story about cross-country travel. It was said in an interview with Co-Creative Director and Writer Michel Koch that this book was one of the inspirations for creating Life is Strange 2.Why Life is Strange 2 is ditching Arcadia Bay for its radically different road trip (August 21, 2018) * Despite locking away most of Karen's pictures and belongings inside her bedroom, Claire still keeps a small case of her milk teeth inside of her jewelry drawer. * Karen owms the music single " " by the band . The song is about a man asking a conversative father for his daughter's hand in marriage and calling the father "rude" after the father refused. At the end of the song, the man tells the father that he will marry the daughter anway. Because the song was released in 2013, it is rather odd that it would be in Karen's teenage room. The music CD could be a reference to Karen's father Stephen who is also a conservative, possibly initially not approving Karen's relationship with Esteban. *Karen has an amethyst in her bedroom, and Sean comments on her being into stuff. In New Age mythology, amethysts are used to strengthen a user's clairvoyant abilities (far sight and prophecy). This may imply that Karen either has powers herself or was trying to obtain them. ** The amethyst could also be her birthstone for the month of February, which would make it her personal "healing" stone. ** A stone that large would be very valuable and expensive, and it's odd that Karen did not take it with her to continue using if she truly believed in its power. She may have worried about theft wherever she was going and simply trusted her parents to keep it safe. * Karen's hobby of taking random photographs may be a reference to Max Caulfield doing the same thing in the first Life is Strange game. * Karen's carving on her bed stand, which depicts a "Exit doorway to somewhere else" is a reference to Chloe Price's "Hole to Another Universe" graffiti in the original game. ** Like Chloe, Karen was raised by a strict conservative parent and wanted to escape her hometown. Gallery Photos Study_Karen2.png|A photo of Karen that her father keeps in his study. Young_Karen_photo.png|A young Karen wearing her father's firefighting gear. Karen_Claire_Stephen_family_photo.png|Karen standing with her parents. Screenshots Karen's_bicycle.jpg|The "women's bicycle" in the Diaz's basement. Karen's_boxes_2.jpg|The "old box" in the Diaz's basement. Karen's_boxes.jpg|A frontal view of the storage boxes and containers in the Diaz's basement, which bear her name and initial. References ru:Карен Category:Characters (Season 2) Category:Major Characters (Season 2) Category:Female Characters (Season 2) Category:Mentioned Characters (Season 2) Category:Season 2 Category:Female Characters Category:Diaz Family